LoGuidice, Simmons still mum on charges of anti-Semitism in Fairview Fire Department

Five days after the Anti-Defamation League asked Fairview fire officials to investigate crude anti-Semitic remarks about town Supervisor Paul Feiner reportedly made by Fire Chief Anthony LoGuidice, Fairview Fire Commission Chair Vikki Simmons declined to respond to questions about the issue.

“I have no comment,” said Simmons, when reached Monday at her job at the Greenburgh Neighborhood Health Center. “Thank you for calling.”

LoGuidice, meanwhile, did not return a phone message at fire headquarters. Tax Watch left a message Monday for LoGuidice with Deputy Chief Howard Reiss, who testified under oath about LoGuidice’s remarks about Feiner.

The Fairview Fire Department is one of three independent departments with paid firefighters that serve most of unincorporated Greenburgh, which has about 40,000 residents.

Evan Bernstein, New York regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he sent a letter on Monday to Simmons, asking for her to respond.

“We want the fire commission to very carefully investigate the issue,” he said. “We really hope to get a response from Ms. Simmons. All public officials need to serve the entire community, and these remarks, if true, really hurt the integrity of the office they hold.”

The anti-Semitic remarks were mentioned in sworn depositions in the federal age-discrimination filed by Greenburgh resident David Hecht, who was passed over for an opening in the department. Hecht, now 45, scored 90 on the county Civil Service exam, and had one of the highest scores on the county’s firefighter agility test.

Hecht said his material grandmother was Jewish. LoGuidice denied making derogatory remarks about Feiner in his deposition in the case.

In depositions, retired firefighter Darryl Leak and Reiss both testified to the crude remarks made by LoGuidice about Feiner, a Fairview critic who is also Jewish. Feiner worships at Woodlands Community Temple, a Reform synogogue in Greenburgh.

According to Leak, LoGuidice often referred to Feiner as a “c***-sucking Jew bastard.”

Reiss testified that LoGuidice called Feiner a “c***sucker” when referring to Feiner’s religion.

ADL’s letter Monday to Simmons follows a statement issued by Bernstein on March 19.

On March 19,the statement said:

“If the allegations that Mr. LoGiudice made anti-Semitic comments are true, it is deeply troubling. Public officials have a responsibility to serve the entire community, and when they make biased and ugly remarks, it undermines the integrity of the office they hold and the community’s trust in them. We expect that, if the allegations are true, Mr. LoGuidice will apologize to Mr. Feiner and to the public he serves. We also hope that the Board of Fire Commissioners will carefully investigate these allegations and look forward to seeing their response and recommendations.”

Feiner said he has yet to receive an apology from LoGuidice.

“I haven’t gotten a calls from him yet,”Feiner said. “I’m waiting, and I’m not going to initiate any calls. I found it offensive and hurtful.”

Veteran journalist David McKay Wilson has written about public affairs for more than 30 years, including 21 years at The Journal News, and several years as a regular contributor to The New York Times. A Sharfman Fellow in economics at Brandeis University, Wilson was honored by the Education Writers Association in 2010 for his analysis of economists’ growing role in U.S. education policy and in 2012 for his reporting on suburban schools and cheating by those who administer standardized tests.